This case study showcases a real in-market product where all product names, company data, and individuals have been anonymized while retaining the authenticity of the data. As the product lead, I spearheaded a cross-functional team with a strong focus on outcomes to drive user and business success. Leveraging the principles learned from the INSPIRED + EMPOWERED: Product Manager & Leadership Workshops by Silicon Valley Product Group, I embraced a user-centric and data-driven approach to decision-making. This case study highlights the journey of building products that customers love and demonstrates the tangible impact of employing effective product management strategies.

Introduction

Content Experience Product X is a companion solution designed to provide seamless access to proprietary content from Business Unit X, a leading educational content, and data analytics provider. Content Experience Product X serves as a game-changer for Business Unit X’s existing and future users by offering a convenient and engaging way to access essential learning content. By providing a comprehensive and intuitive digital companion experience, we aim to foster user loyalty and engagement throughout the entire customer decision journey.

Problem Statement

The primary problem addressed by Content Experience Product X was the low percentage of users transitioning into the digital subscription service, which hindered our growth objectives. Each transactional customer that failed to enter the digital user journey translated to potential revenue loss for our subscription business model. The impact on customers and the market was significant, as a subscription model was essential to offset the costs of delivering proprietary content, establish dominance in the medical education and EdTech market, and scale in response to the rapidly evolving education industry. The key challenges and constraints included finding alternatives to the declining one-off purchase model, creating value from transactional business data, monetizing different content types, and meeting the diverse needs of today’s students and learning audience. All of this had to be achieved while ensuring a smooth user experience without interrupting students’ daily work.

Solution

To address these challenges, we implemented a solution that offered quick and free access to a companion content library, specifically videos, eBooks, and learning materials. The content types were strategically narrowed down to focus on the key needs of our users. By allowing users to redeem codes provided with their textbook purchases, we granted them access to valuable free content. This served as an opportunity to upsell paid content based on their behavior and specific learning requirements. Key features and functionalities included the ability to view image libraries, access video libraries, open and read eBooks, and use content alongside purchased items in a convenient manner, such as by chapter. One of the innovative aspects was the integration with a leading platform for distributing, accessing, consuming, and engaging with digital textbooks, ensuring a seamless and centralized experience for users.

Validation/Testing with Customers

The solution underwent thorough validation and testing through in-depth product research with existing customers of our current product. This research helped identify pain points that needed to be resolved in the new solution, such as the inclusion of a read-aloud feature, customizable layout options (including font size and brightness adjustments), customizable highlighter colors for organizing high-yield content, and the ability to search topics and terms across all available content. The close collaboration between product, UX, and technology teams enabled us to create a feasible solution that not only addressed user concerns but also achieved our business goals.

Results and Impact

The results achieved by Content Experience Product X were remarkable. We successfully reactivated 20% (a total of 200,000) of our entire legacy user base during the product’s sunset and new launch phase. Additionally, we witnessed a steady growth rate of 1,200 new registered users per week. The product’s NPS (Net Promoter Score) increased month after month, demonstrating its positive reception among users. The objectives and key results (OKRs) were met, including the migration of 20% of the user base to the new product, an increased intake of 1,300 new users per week since the launch, and ensuring new users quick and easy content access within 30 seconds to avoid interruptions in users’ daily work. The positive outcomes and benefits included improved customer awareness and satisfaction, streamlined content viewing experience, excellent customer service, high-quality content, and the convenience of having all content in one place.

Lessons Learned

Throughout the journey, we encountered various challenges, including addressing the concerns of legacy users who were reluctant to transition from the old system, mapping content and entitlements from the legacy system to the new one, and encountering higher-than-expected rates of invalid code activations. We made changes and iterations based on user feedback, such as scaling the customer support team, automating scripts to map product IDs to content, and automating redemption code processes to minimize delays for users.

Key learnings and insights emphasized the need for an extended transition plan, proactive messaging to users as early as possible, and the recognition that new users embraced the new product while some legacy users preferred the old system. Looking to the future, we see opportunities for centralized distribution, leveraging data from various central systems, connecting the customer decision journey, linking personal and institutional accounts, and incorporating product support and AI chat functionalities to further enhance user experiences and accessibility to new and updated content.

Conclusion In summary, the extensive UX research conducted effectively prepared the product team to deliver Content Experience Product X, a solution that garnered positive feedback and resonated well with new users. The video, eBook, and question bank content offerings proved to be of the highest value to users and can be scaled to monetize the increasing demand for content. Going forward, our focus will be on scaling these key offerings to offer paid content that brings deeper value to users as they progress on their educational journey. Additionally, we aim to connect individual user behavior to institutional curriculum, further enhancing the impact and value of Content Experience Product X.